COLLECTANEA PHILOLOGICA XXIII, 2020: 53–72 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.23.04 Idaliana KACZOR Uniwersytet Łódzki MAGIC IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC LIVES OF THE ANCIENT ROMANS The Romans practiced magic in their private and public life. Besides magical practices against the property and lives of people, the Romans also used generally known and used protective and healing magic. Sometimes magical practices were used in official religious ceremonies for the safety of the civil and sacral community of the Romans. Keywords: ancient magic practice, homeopathic magic, black magic, ancient Roman religion, Roman religious festivals MAGIE IM PRIVATEN UND ÖFFENTLICHEN LEBEN DER ALTEN RÖMER Die Römer praktizierten Magie in ihrem privaten und öffentlichen Leben. Neben magische Praktik- en gegen das Eigentum und das Leben von Menschen, verwendeten die Römer auch allgemein bekannte und verwendete Schutz- und Heilmagie. Manchmal wurden magische Praktiken in offiziellen religiösen Zeremonien zur Sicherheit der bürgerlichen und sakralen Gemeinschaft der Römer angewendet. Schlüsselwörter: alte magische Praxis, homöopathische Magie, schwarze Magie, alte römi- sche Religion, Römische religiöse Feste Magic, despite our sustained efforts at defining this term, remains a slippery and obscure concept. It is uncertain how magic has been understood and practised in differ- ent cultural contexts and what the difference is (if any) between magical and religious praxis. Similarly, no satisfactory and all-encompassing definition of ‘magic’ exists. It appears that no singular concept of ‘magic’ has ever existed: instead, this polyvalent notion emerged at the crossroads of local custom, religious praxis, superstition, and politics of the day. Individual scholars of magic, positioning themselves as ostensi- bly objective observers (an etic perspective), mostly defined magic in opposition to religion and overemphasised intercultural parallels over differences1. Others futilely 1 My presentation of prevalent trends in studies on magic follows Jacek Sieradzan’s article “O względności pojęć ‘magii’ i ‘religii’” (Sieradzan 2005: passim). 54 Idaliana Kaczor sought to explain magic through its etymology: English ‘magic’, deriving from an- cient Greek mage…a2, appeared as măgīa3 in texts by Roman writers4, subsequently adopted by modern scholars as an inclusive umbrella term for similar practices. The erroneous scholarly assumption that magic always stands in direct opposition to religion induced many to construe elaborate classificatory criteria for distinguishing between these two modes of praxis5. In time, another opinion prevailed: no ancient society drew a clear distinction between magic and religion—and neither should we: “[…] magic and religion constitute a complex tangle of beliefs and practices, all endeavouring to shape the material reality by practical means”6. The modern schol- arly consensus discourages attempts at providing universal definitions of ‘magic’, noting that, by nature, it is a constellation of practices that evade straightforward categorisations7. Arguably, many traditional cultures do not functionally distinguish between magic and religion due to their worldview: humans live their days as mere play- things of ineffable and transcendent cosmic forces that can equally easily sustain and vanquish mortals. “Modern theories of magic stress that humans are animists at heart: they perceive the world as a dynamic system of symbols, awash with sig- 2 The Greek term mage…a denotes ʻmagic’ or ‘theology of the mages,’ while its derivative verb, mageÚw, means ‘to use magic arts, bewitch or call forth by magic arts’ (Abramowicz 1962: 61–62). 3 The Latin term măgīa denotes ‘the science of the Persian Magi, magic, sorcery’ (Plezia 1998 [3]: 415). 4 The word măgīa, derived from măgus (‘a learned man, a practitioner of magical arts among the Persians,’ Warrior 2006: 94) appears in the Roman literature only in the 1st c. BCE (Dickie 2005: 131), introduced by Catullus, (Carm. 90, 1, 3), a follower of a new poetic trend inspired by the Hellenistic Alexandrine tradition. The first prose writer to employ the word măgus, Cicero, linked it to activities of Persian diviners (Cic. Div. I 90–91: “Nor is the practice of divination disregard- ed even among uncivilized tribes. […] Among the Persians the augurs and diviners are the magi, who assemble regularly in a sacred place for practice. […] Indeed, no one can become king of the Persians until he has learned the theory and the practice of the magi” (transl. Falconer 1959)). 5 Bremmer (2015: 11) succinctly juxtaposes traits which—in his view—characterise and dis- tinguish magic and religion. The former, practiced in secret and by night, is in essence a negative hierophany: a magician works with verbal incantations and formulae to manipulate and compel su- pernatural (and often malicious) forces in order to achieve selfish ends. The latter, practiced publicly and in broad daylight, involves an entire community and works for its common good: the religious praxis employs well-known liturgical texts to entreat and appease benevolent (or ambiguous) divine powers. Nonetheless, many rites do not easily fit into Bremmer’s classification. Certain communal rites took place at night (e.g. Roman rites performed in the dark included the Lemuria, the sacrum Bonae Deae, the Saturnalia and the ludi Saeculares), whereas other rituals meant to command ma- levolent forces and turn them against the common enemy (e.g. Roman rites of devotio and evocatio aimed to deprive Rome’s enemies of divine protection). 6 Szyjewski 2008: 90. Cf. Wypustek 2001: 30: “[…] no visible gap yawns between magic and religion”. Cf. Wypustek 2001: 31: “No single criterion exists that would neatly and universally cleave magic from religion”. 7 Musiał 1998: 57. Cf. Szyjewski 2008: 90: “The noun itself (scil. magic) remains decidedly ambiguous […]”. Magic in Private and Public Lives of the Ancient Romans 55 nificance and power. In such a system, ‘magic’ represents an attempt at rewriting causality […]. Its power stems from the perceived solidarity of all life forms […]. To commune with nature and become one with reality, human beings must form an emotional and spiritual bond with their environment […]: to practice magic, they must draw upon these bonds to effect change in the reality”8. Metaphysical- ly, magic and religion serve the same function: to work, pragmatically, desired changes into the fabric of existence. It appears that the sole functional division between magic and religion con- cerns their acceptance (or lack thereof) by the civic and sacral community: many traditional cultures compelled magical practitioners to follow the moral, legal and religious rules of conduct that bound communities together and ensured their sur- vival9. Experiencing constant uncertainty and helplessness in the face of vicissi- tudes of fortune, people wished to rig the game of fate in their favour, to cajole or appease in any manner the powers that be upon whom their survival depended. Humans used all available means to manipulate the universe to their benefit, be them magic, science or religion. In archaic religious systems, homines religiosi developed numerous strate- gies to appease the gods and tie them and their worshippers in bonds of reci- procity so that they would foster and support the entire religious community10. The ancient Romans, arguably the most ingenious and pragmatic Mediterranean people in their religious approach, clung to a deep-seated belief that they could rely on their gods to favour Rome in all her endeavours as long as their religious community fastidiously aligned its aims and actions with the divine will. To do so established a lasting and ever-sustained peace between gods and their worship- pers, pax deorum11. To keep the peace between the Romans and their gods, the entire sacral community had to follow the so-called cultus deorum, a set of rules prescribing official rites and sacrifices12. In the Roman civic milieu, the religious and the political went hand in hand: the set of religious guidelines became the law, and the politicians ensured that law would be obeyed13. Accordingly, any 8 Szyjewski 2008: 90–91. 9 Sieradzan 2005: 34: “As in ancient times, so nowadays magic and religion meld; those who are viciously bent on separating one from another are politicians and legalists, not scholars”. 10 Scholars of religion highlight that the Romans have developed the most consistent religious system within which all religious rites were directly responsible for ensuring the well-being of the entire religious and civic community. Cf. Scheid 1981: 168. 11 Cf. Bartnik 2010: 31: “Pax deorum as a concept was a part of the public law, shaping the relationship between the community and its citizens”. 12 Cic. N. D. II 7: […] religio, id est cultus deorum. “Religion, the worship of the gods” (I translated all texts not accompanied by another translator’s name). 13 Liv. Urb. cond. IV 30: “And not only were men’s bodies smitten by the plague, but a horde of superstitions, mostly foreign, took possession of their minds, as the class of men who find their profit in superstition-ridden souls introduced strange sacrificial rites into their homes, pretending to be seers; until the public shame finally reached the leading citizens, as they beheld in every street 56 Idaliana Kaczor private or communal acts that went against the religious custom constituted both sacrilege and a crime14. Upsetting the pact between gods and the Romans, such acts disturbed the social contract and were thought to put Rome’s continued sur- vival into jeopardy15, since the offended gods could deprive their people of their support. Hence, sacrilegious deeds by a Roman citizen were punished by law as immoral acts against the entire community16. Was magic occasionally perceived as an antisocial and sacrilegious act in ancient Rome? The surviving literary testi- monies and artefacts indicate that it had been so. The oldest known Roman legislation (dated to the 5th c. BCE)17 that penal- ised magical practice is the Law of the Twelve Tables (Leges XII Tabularum), sur- and chapel outlandish and unfamiliar sacrifices being offered up to appease Heaven’s anger.